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- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Identity beyond death: messages and meanings in Alsatian cemeteries
- 2021
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Ingår i: Mortality. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1357-6275 .- 1469-9885. ; 26:1, s. 17-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The French region of Alsace has a strong Germanic tradition, in having shifted four times between France and Germany between 1870 and 1945. Hence, the question of regional and national identity is a recurring one in Alsatian cemeteries, which reflect changing identities in several ways. Starting out from the epitaphs and more precisely the names that are inscribed on the gravestones, the language chosen and the life narratives that are told, this study examines how Alsatian cemeteries express messages of identity intended to last, and also how they contribute to the construction of regional and national identities. Furthermore, the materiality of the tomb is taken into consideration. In sum, the study testifies to how identity operates beyond death. It shows how the Alsatian graves and their cemeteries are endowed with an agency on their own, making cemeteries participate to the construction of regional and national identity.
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| 2. |
- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Le paysage linguistique du cimetière alsacien : un reflet diachronique et synchronique de la situation sociolinguistique
- 2020
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Ingår i: SHS Web of Conferences, Volume 78 (2020), 7e Congrès Mondial de Linguistique Française. - : EDP Sciences. - 2261-2424.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cette étude examine comment les choix linguistiques dans les cimetières alsaciens reflètent la situation sociolinguistique de la région et le changement de langue du germanique (allemand et alsacien) au français. Dans ce paysage linguistique (Landry & Bourhis 1997), les inscriptions des épitaphes ont un rôle fonctionnel puisqu’elles comportent des informations personnelles sur les défunts (nom, dates, etc.), et aussi un rôle symbolique, de par le choix de langue qui pouvait être transgressif. En effet, en Alsace, région ayant basculé plusieurs fois entre France et Alle-magne, le choix du français ou de l’allemand était censé suivre la langue du pouvoir. Mais ceci n’est pas toujours le cas. Ainsi, le choix du français pendant une période allemande pourra indiquer une prise de position identitaire en faveur de la France. Le choix de l’allemand, par contre, peut être considéré comme étant plutôt la conséquence de la tradition germanique de la région. De plus, noms et prénoms sont eux aussi marqués par les appartenances nationales. Aujourd’hui, le déclin des variétés germaniques est reflété par le choix général du français, l’allemand devenant exception.
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| 3. |
- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Names on Alsatian Gravestones as Mirrors of Politics and Identities
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of English Studies. - : University of Gothenburg - Department of Languages and Literatures. - 1654-6970. ; 19:5, s. 288-310
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study focuses on personal names on gravestones in Alsace, a region in the east of France that has shifted several times between France and Germany, especially between 1871 and 1945. These shifts are observable in the cemeteries, not least regarding the personal names inscribed in the epitaphs, which usually exhibit either a French or a German variant of the first name, whereas family names traditionally are of German origin. The choice of a first name was expected to follow the language of the ruler, but this was not always the case and we can observe numerous transgressive choices of first names. Indeed, the simultaneous occurrence of German and French first names shows how naming was subject to different traditions and ideologies. Today, German first names have become rare, which mirrors the region’s ongoing, larger language shift to French. More recently, the frequency of at once non-German and non-French names echoes an increasing mobility in Alsatian society.
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| 4. |
- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Pandémie, défis et acquis. Quelques observations sur l’enseignement des langues à l’université de Göteborg
- 2021
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Ingår i: Distances apprivoisées. L'enseignement confiné des langues étrangères. Ed. par Diana Jamborova Lemay et Louise Ouvrard Andriantsoa. - Paris : Editions des archives contemporaines. - 9782813004253 ; , s. 151-158
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden, as elsewhere, Covid-19 has profoundly changed daily life, almost overnight, at all levels of society. But unlike most other countries, the strategy adopted by the government and the Folkhälsomyndigheten did not consider total containment as a realistic way forward. Instead, the recommendations given to avoid the spread of the virus were clear and, if not mandatory, formal and resolute. With a strong tradition of civic obedience and trust in the welfare state, the result was that Swedes mostly stayed at home, worked remotely when possible, and were not able to go to the theatre or the cinema, let alone travel or meet in large groups. In education, although schools remained open, colleges and universities were forced to move all their activities online, usually to Zoom.
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| 5. |
- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Spelling and education of citizens in the French dictations of Gouzien : Orthographe et éducation des citoyens dans les dictées françaises de Gouzien
- 2022
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Ingår i: French Cultural Studies. - : SAGE Publications. - 0957-1558 .- 1740-2352. ; 33:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Orthography and education of the citizens in texts for dictation by Gouzien. During the 19th century, dictation was probably the most current exercise in French schools and therefore the content of the texts dictated must not be neglected. Hence, we here intend to examine how they can contribute to constructing France, building national identity and forming citizenship during the first years of the French Third Republique. The first part of the study will give a historical background to the teaching of spelling. Then, we will present the theoretical and methodological frame of the study, before examining the double aim of dictation (to instruct and to educate) and the themes contributing to the discursive construction of the nation and the pupil's education to citizenship, i.e. History, Homeland and National imaginary.
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| 7. |
- Vajta, Katharina, 1958
(författare)
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Written multilingualism challenging French hegemony in the cemetery
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. - 0143-4632.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines how a historical, multilingual space is written and constructed, thus questioning monolingual French language ideology. Two cemeteries in Menton, next to the Italian border on the French Riviera, were visited and documented. The presence of Italian is clearly observable, because of the historic proximity to Italy. But also many other languages are represented, such as for example English, Russian, Polish or German: the city also has a history of being a therapeutic town where many foreigners spent time to recover or stayed because of a mild climate. This is also reflected in the linguistic landscape of the cemeteries. Building on the notions of space/place and of heterotopia, the cemeteries are examined from a qualitative, interpretative perspective. Iconicity in writing and script choice is discussed, as well as multilingualism both on cemetery level, and as pertaining to individual tombstones. The construction of linguistic spaces is examined. The results show that other national languages in the cemeteries do not challenge national French as such. However, graves of African soldiers may still question France’s colonial history and the presence of Occitan can be seen as a reminder of a former vernacular.
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